When Shubman Gill pushed Nuwanidu Fernando gently for a single to mid-on to bring up his second ODI hundred, Virat Kohli was at the non-striking end. It was a magnificent century by the 23-year-old opener who looks to be the heir apparent of the great Indian batsmanship.
But, he would soon be overshadowed by the king himself. Kohli scored a brilliant 166 not out off just 110 balls (13x4, 8x6) to help India record the biggest victory (by runs) in ODI history and whitewash Sri Lanka 3-0.
Riding on the hundreds from Gill (116, 97b, 14x4, x6) and Kohli, as well as useful knocks from captain Rohit Sharma (42, 49b, 2x4, 3x6) and Shreyas Iyer (38, 32b, 2x4, 1x6), India posted a mammoth 390 for five, and then dismissed the visitors for just 73, in just 22 overs, at the Greenfield Stadium on Sunday. India’s margin of victory – 317 runs – broke the record set in 2008 by New Zealand, which defeated Ireland by 290 runs at Aberdeen.
It really was a strange ODI match. If the first often half resembled a T20I, the second was more like a Test match, with Mohammed Siraj bowling to four slips and a gully.
Siraj moved the ball around beautifully to break the back of the Sri Lankan batting. Chasing a target close to 400 was always going to be extremely difficult but he made it impossible.
Siraj had Avishka Fernando caught at slip in his first over and Kusal Mendis caught behind in the next. His new-ball partner Mohammed Shami also got into the act, removing Charith Asalanka.
The promising opener Nuwanidu played on to Siraj for 19, which would turn out to be the highest score in the innings. The Hyderabad seamer completed his first four-wicket haul in ODIs. He finished with four for 32 and was the only Indian bowler required to complete his quota.
Earlier, it was a masterclass in ODI batting by Kohli. It was not all that long ago when he went through a three-year drought of international hundreds, but he is now back at his very best. Frighteningly for bowlers around the world, he seems to be getting even better – the eight sixes he smashed in this innings is the highest in his ODI innings.
It was his third hundred in the last four ODIs and 46th overall. He is now just three short of Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI hundreds. While Tendulkar’s hundreds came in 452 innings, this was Kohli’s 259th innings.
The way he paced his innings was wonderful, as he ensured Sri Lanka would be left with too big a mountain to climb. He added 131 for the second with Gill, who yet again looked elegant, and 108 with Shreyas.
India had got off to a great start with Rohit and Gill putting on 95. The finish would be provided by Siraj.
Scoreboard:
India: Rohit Sharma c Avishka Fernando b C Karunaratne 42 Shubman Gill b Rajitha 116 Virat Kohli not out 166 Shreyas Iyer c Dhananjaya de Silva b Lahiru Kumara 38 KL Rahul c D Wellalage b Lahiru Kumara 7 Suryakumar Yadav c Avishka Fernando b Rajitha 4 Axar Patel not out 2 Extras: (lb-10, w-5) 15
Total: 390/5 in 50 overs
Fall of wickets: 95-1, 226-2, 334-3, 364-4, 370-5
Bowling: Kasun Rajitha 10-1-81-2, Lahiru Kumara 10-1-87-2, Wanindu Hasaranga 10-0-54-0, Jeffrey Vandersay 7-0-59-0, Chamika Karunaratne 8-0-58-1, Dasun Shanaka 3-0-19-0, Nuwanidu Fernando 2-0-22-0.
Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando c Shubman Gill b Mohammed Siraj 1 Nuwanidu Fernando b Mohammed Siraj 19 Kusal Mendis c Rahul b Mohammed Siraj 4 Charith Asalanka c Patel b Mohammed Shami 1 Dasun Shanaka b Kuldeep Yadav 11 Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva b Mohammed Siraj 1 Chamika Karunaratne run out (Mohammed Siraj) 1 Dunith Wellalage c Yadav b Mohammed Shami 3 Kasun Rajitha not out 13 Lahiru Kumara b Kuldeep Yadav 9 Ashen Bandara absent hurt
Extras: (B-1, LB-2, W-7) 10 Total: (For 9 wickets in 22 overs) 73
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-22, 3-31, 4-35, 5-37, 6-39, 7-50, 8-51, 9-73
Bowling: Mohammed Shami 6-2-20-2, Mohammed Siraj 10-1-32-4, Kuldeep Yadav 5-1-16-2, Shreyas Iyer 1-0-2-0.
